1.

The First Fire-Starters – Swarkrans – South Africa

The use of controlled fire is an early beacon on the journey of man, and the beacon was lit
long before modern humans evolved. Sites that provide the oldest good evidence for the
controlled use of fire include Swartkrans in South Africa, where the burned bone leftovers
of prehistoric meals date to between 1 million and 1.5 million years ago.

The finds make Homo erectus—our direct human ancestor—the earliest known fire-starter.
This milestone opened up greater culinary opportunities by enabling humans to consume
meats and tough plants more easily. The life-changing impact of fire use is revealed in the
dramatically reduced chewing muscles of humans compared with those of earlier hominins.
Cooking by fire upped the intake of energy-rich meat and plants required to fuel the
calorie-hungry growth of the modern human brain.

2. The First Steps Out of Africa - Bab el Mandeb -Strait

Researchers identify the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait on the Red Sea as the most likely departure
point for the first human exodus from Africa. This narrow stretch of water between the
Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula offered the shortest route to new continents. The
strait would actually have been even less of a stretch than it is today (12 miles), because
when Homo sapiens made the crossing some 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, sea levels were
230 feet lower due to the onset of ice age conditions that locked up water in vast polar ice
caps. With some kind of raft, and perhaps a few islands to hop between, such a crossing
isn’t difficult to imagine.

3. Evidence of Earlier Migration? Dhofar - Omán

The recent discovery of over a hundred sites in the Sultanate of Oman, located in the
southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, could change how scientists think about the
ancient migration of our ancestors out of Africa.

Previously, most evidence has pointed to the idea known as the coastal expansion
hypothesis, which posits that early modern humans left Africa about 60,000 years ago and
spread throughout Europe and Asia by following the coastline. But stone spear points and
other artifacts discovered in Oman that date to about 106,000 years ago suggest that a
'Nubian Middle Stone Age' culture once thrived in southern Arabia.

The spear points appear to have been created using a technique similar to one used by a
nomadic hunter-gatherer society from Africa's Nile Valley known as the 'Nubian Complex.''
According to archaeologist Jeffrey Rose, the evidence from Oman provides a 'trail of stone
bread crumbs' left by early humans who migrated out of Africa and into Arabia by
following a network of rivers inland. The climate in Arabia was tropical during the time the
Stone Age humans lived there, scientists say, and would have been home to abundant
freshwater and plentiful game such as gazelles and antelopes.

4. A Momentous Crossing, Shrouded in Mystery - Northern Australia

About 50,000 years ago, a small band of humans landed in northern Australia, arriving on a
primitive boat or raft. It is likely that the journey was planned because enough men and women
arrived to found a new population there. Perhaps guided by rivers, the group ventured deeper
inland, where they found giant mammals, birds, and reptiles ripe for hunting—and no other humans
to challenge them. This intrepid group had stumbled upon a new continent, and they had it all to
themselves.

The ocean crossing from Asia to Australia is one of humanity’s great early achievements, but it’s
one that is shrouded in mystery. Why modern humans made the journey, and when, are still open
questions that scientists are keen to answer because they could hold the key to understanding when
our ancestors first left Africa and whether they did so in one wave or in a staggered exodus spread
out over millennia.

5. Agriculture: Seeds of Civilization – The Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent area of today’s Middle East is thought to be one of the key locations in the
development of farming and agriculture. Taking root around 12,000 years ago, agriculture triggered
such a change in society and the way people lived that its development has been dubbed the
“Neolithic Revolution.” Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles followed by humans since their
evolution, were swept aside in favor of permanent settlements and a reliable food supply. Out of
agriculture, cities and civilizations grew, and because crops and animals could now be farmed to
meet demand, the global population rocketed—from some five million people 10,000 years ago, to
more than seven billion today.

6. Neanderthals: Our Ancient Cousins – Neander Valley – Germany

In 1856, laborers working in a limestone quarry near Düsseldorf, Germany, unearthed bones that
scientists initially thought belonged to a deformed human. The skull was oval shaped, with a low,
receding forehead, distinct brow ridges, and bones that were unusually thick. Subsequent study
revealed that the remains belonged to a previously unknown species of hominin (early human
ancestor) that was similar to our own species, Homo sapiens. In 1864, the specimen was dubbed
Homo neanderthalensis, after the Neander Valley where the skull was discovered.

7. The Urge for Creative Expression

Art is seen as a key milestone in our evolutionary past—an expression of symbolic thought and of
humans starting to look beyond their material lives. The most impressive artworks date from after
the modern human expansion out of Africa. Stunning cave paintings in Europe, such as the famous
animal scenes at Lascaux in France, marked the beginnings of figurative art. Intricate rock art in the
Northern Territory of Australia may date back to at least 30,000 years ago.

Even earlier examples exist of humanity’s efforts to heighten or alter the natural visuals of life.
Scientists believe that red-stained abalone shells found in a South African cave are part of a
100,000-year-old prehistoric art studio where paints were mixed from ochre, charcoal, crushed seal
bone, and rock chips. And clay-coated, pierced shells found in eastern Morocco were likely worn as
body ornaments 82,000 years ago.
 8. Bridge to North America

How and when humans first came to the Americas has long been a topic of intense debate. Theories
to explain the colonization of the New World—the last great habitable landmass to be occupied by
humans—focus on the Bering land bridge, or Beringia, which emerged between Siberia and Alaska
during the last ice age. Rising from seas drained by the water-locking effect of spreading ice caps,
Beringia is said to have given passage to the forebearers of Native Americans anywhere between
40,000 and 15,000 years ago.

9. Oldest Known Human Habitation in North America – Meadowcroft - Pennsylvania

Located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter site is a rock ledge overhang
that was used as a campsite by prehistoric hunters and gatherers some 16,000 years ago. Discovered
in 1955, Meadowcroft Rockshelter is the oldest known site of human habitation in North America
and its existence lends credence to the idea that humans arrived in the Americas earlier than
traditionally thought. The site has yielded nearly two million artifacts, including ancient tools made
of stone or bone, pottery fragments, and hundreds of fire pits. Animal and plant remains—including
fruits, nuts, and seeds—have also been discovered at the site.

10. Traveling the Pacific Coast of the Americas – Monteverde - Chile

The Monte Verde archaeological site is located in the low mountains of southern Chile and has been
dated to more than 14,000 years ago. Artifacts discovered at the site include mastodon bones,
charcoal-filled hearths, and wooden posts that once supported huts. Its discovery in the late 1970s
suggested humans had not only arrived in the Americas a lot earlier than expected, but that they had
also traveled a lot farther than anyone thought.

In 2008, archaeologists discovered bits of chewed up seaweed at the site that may have been used
for food and medicine and which corroborate the dating of other artifacts at the site. Several
different species of seaweed were discovered, which suggests that early Americans possessed a
fairly sophisticated knowledge of coastal ecosystems.

Based on this evidence, some researchers have suggested that ancient humans spread across the
Americas through a slow coastal migration down the Pacific Coast, instead of dispersing along
strictly inland routes as had been traditionally thought. Archaeologist Tom Dillehay speculates that
people could have moved in a 'zigzag' pattern—taking inland detours to follow 'thousands of
temptations' along the way before returning back to the coast to continue their southward migration.